1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technical field of a print system for outputting a print (photograph) on which an image photographed on a film [or an image photographed by a digital camera] is reproduced, and in particular, to a data retrieval method allowing an image on a print made on the occasion of film processing and that on a reprint to suitably match each other in such a print system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Up to now, so-called direct exposure for projecting an image on a film onto a photosensitive material (photographic paper) and then performing exposure on the photosensitive material has been a main technique in printing of an image photographed on a photographic film (hereinafter, referred to simply as a film) such as a negative film or a reversal film onto a photosensitive material.
On the other hand, a printer utilizing digital exposure, that is, a digital photographic printer has recently been put into practical use. In the digital photographic printer, an image recorded on a film is photoelectrically read. The read image is converted to a digital signal, which is then subjected to various image processing operations so as to obtain image data for recording. A photosensitive material is subjected to scanning exposure with recording light which has been modulated in accordance with the obtained image data so as to record an image (latent image), thereby obtaining a (finished) print.
The digital photographic printer basically includes: a scanner (image reader) for making reading light incident on a film and reading its projected light so as to photoelectrically read an image recorded on the film; an image processor for performing predetermined processing on image data read by the scanner [or image data supplied from a digital camera] or the like so as to obtain image data for image recording, that is, an exposure condition; a printer (image recorder) for performing scanning exposure on a photosensitive material, for example, by light beam scanning in accordance with the image data output from the image processor so as to record a latent image; and a processor (developing unit) for performing development processing on the photosensitive material exposed by the printer so as to obtain a (finished) print on which the image is reproduced.
In such a digital photographic printer, images can be processed as digital image data to adjust images, so various operations including the correction of washed-out highlights and flat (dull) shadows due to the taking of pictures with rear light or an electronic flash, sharpening, and the like can be performed in an effective manner to produce prints of the high quality that has been unattainable by the conventional direct exposure.
[Moreover, according to the digital photographic printer, even an image photographed by a digital camera or the like can be output as a print.]
Not only in such a digital photographic printer but also an analog photographic printer utilizing direct exposure, for a print output from an image photographed on a film [or image data photographed by a digital camera], so-called reprinting (reprocessing) for reoutputting an image (frame) which has already been printed once as a print is often performed in accordance with the request of a reprint and the like.
In this case, unless a modification is otherwise indicated, it is required that the image reproduced on a previously outputted print (normally, a print made on the occasion of film processing for reproducing and outputting an image photographed on a photographic film) and the image on a reprint match each other.
However, due to differences in decisions or operations by operators, the previous print and the reprint have often different image colors and densities, leading to many customer complaints.
In order to cope with this problem, for example, a print system allowing a reorder to be placed without dealing with a film has been proposed in JP 09-55834 A or JP 09-179211 A.
In addition, a printing system for efficiently performing the retrieval of image processing information is disclosed in, for example, JP 2000-222437 A and JP 2001-7965 A.
In these prior art documents, image processing is performed during reprinting under the same image processing condition as that of the image processing performed during printing with film processing so as to obtain the identical images in the reprint and the print made on the occasion of film processing. For this purpose, the image processing conditions in the printing with film processing are recorded in a database along with the image data on images to be processed, so that the retrieval within the database is performed during the reprinting so as to fetch out the image processing conditions in the printing with film processing.
Conventionally, when an order for a reprint is placed, the retrieval is performed within the image database for an image characteristic quantity so as to compare the image characteristic quantity of the image data at reorder with that in the printing with film processing. The image data in the printing with film processing that has the highest (greatest) matching rate of the image characteristic quantity (image matching rate) is specified as image data (candidate image data) in the printing of that data with film processing, so that the image processing condition of that image data is also used for the image data at reorder.
For example, as shown in FIG. 5, image data in the printing with film processing is registered as image data 1, image data 2, . . . , and image data N within an image database 90. These image data are registered in the image database 90 in the order of the image data 1, the image data 2, and so on; that is, the image data 1 is the earliest registered, and the image data N is the latest registered image data.
It is assumed that, as a result of comparing the image data 92 at reorder and the image data 1, 2, . . . , and N in the printing with film processing using their image characteristic quantities, matching rates between the image data 92 at reorder and the image data 1, the image data 2, . . . , and the image data N are X1, X2, . . . , and XN, respectively, and the relationship between the matching rates is: X1>X2> . . . >XN.
In a conventional method, the image data 1, which is the earliest registered but has the highest image matching rate X1, is used as candidate image data.
In the laboratory, the same frame or the same image is sometimes printed by remaking its print for several times while, for example, changing the density or tone (gradation) of the respective colors of YMC, giving the sepia tone to a print, or the like. Therefore, in some cases, the same image is subjected to the printing with film processing for a plurality of times, and correspondingly, a plurality of image processing conditions are registered for the image. In other cases, a print is made at reorder while modifying the image processing condition in the printing with film processing in accordance with requests of a customer or the like. The modified image processing condition is registered independently of the image processing condition in the printing with film processing.
In such a case, a customer often orders a reprint which is to be made by performing the same image processing as performed in the printing based on the image data on the latest registered image, namely, the same image processing as performed under the latest registered image processing condition.
Even in such a case, according to a conventional image retrieval method as described above, however, since the image data having the highest image matching rate is always specified as candidate image data regardless of the order of registration, there is a possibility that a finished reprint may be different from that the customer had requested.